Montezemolo: F1 has gone the wrong way on testing

Luca di Montezemolo has again raised the prospect of running three cars in F1 as a means of getting around the restrictions on testing.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has added his voice to the debate over whether there should be more testing - and who should conduct it in F1 in future seasons.

While FIA president Jean Todt openly campaigns for more testing, and former team boss Giancarlo Minardi maintains that the duties should be carried out by drivers aspiring to F1 race seats as opposed to those already ensconced in the top flight, the teams remain wary of the extra cost that testing would bring, particularly as they are under continual pressure to keep a lid on spending.

di Montezemolo, meanwhile, appears in favour of an alternative solution, one that would allow him to pursue a long-held F1 plan.

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"I still believe it is a good idea, as it was in the past and would be today, if the big teams could give a car to the smaller teams," he said during his annual visit to the Italian GP at Monza, "It would certainly produce more competition and would provide an opportunity to run young drivers as well as representing a clear cost saving."

With no in-season testing for the past few years, and limits placed on sessions over the winter, di Montezemolo believes that there are now too many restrictions on development opportunities in the top flight.

"The current F1 is still too dependent on aerodynamics, and cutting out testing during the season has put too much emphasis on simulation work" he reasoned, "At the mid-point of the last decade, there was definitely too much testing, but now we have gone in the completely opposite direction."